


Hide and Seek

by atimidtempest



Category: Free!
Genre: Being Lost, Children, Gen, Hide and Seek, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-02-04
Packaged: 2018-05-18 04:14:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5897794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atimidtempest/pseuds/atimidtempest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for day 2 of SouRin Week 2016. Combining the two prompts "Victory & Loss" and "When We Were Kids". Rough, mostly unedited, one-shot about a time Sousuke got lost playing hide and seek.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hide and Seek

Looking around the unfamiliar neighborhood, Sousuke soon realized with rising dread what had happened. He was lost. It was a simple game of hide-and-seek, but Sousuke struggled with it immensely. It had been over an hour now, and he had yet to find a single person.

Now, so intensely focused on the game, Sousuke wandered into a new place he was unfamiliar with. How he was gonna get back home was anyone’s guess.

He closed his eyes and listened. He hoped to hear a familiar sound, one that would help him find his way home. If only he was close enough to…

The ocean. The waves lapping against the shore, leaving a thin film of white in their wake. Yes, it was there, faint, but ever present in their seaside town. If Sousuke could just find the shore, he would find fishermen, and they would bring him home, ruffling his hair and shaking their heads at the lost little boy. As long as he could find the ocean, he could find his way home.

Sousuke sniffed. There too was the sea, its salty smell permeating the air. After some deliberation, Sousuke followed the scent, gasping in delight when the deep blue expanse met his eyes.

Yet something even more brilliant than the sea soon caught his eye as well. A sudden shock of red, uncommon in these parts. It was a boy’s hair. As Sousuke approached, the boy turned around, startling him with equally crimson eyes. Sousuke realized he knew the boy. They were the same age, classmates, but they had never spoken before.

Rin looked at him placidly, “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for my dad. Guiding him. Mom always says that sometimes she’s afraid he’ll get lost out there. We have to be good so he’ll know where to come back to.”

“Well, I’m lost,” Sousuke offered.

“I guess we’ll have to guide you back first then,” Rin gestures. “Let’s go, my house isn’t far from here.

It turns out that Sousuke’s house isn’t far from there either. Sousuke hadn’t wandered that far out; his playmates had just been extremely clever, choosing to hide within the house rather than outside in the woods. They all lined up, apologetic that Sousuke had gotten lost for it. Sousuke shrugs, but silently decides he isn’t going to playing that game again any time soon. What’s the point of playing a game where you always lose?

In the coming weeks, Sousuke realizes that he found someone during hide-and-seek after all, and that it was ultimately his biggest victory.

**Author's Note:**

> I am super devoted to completing every day of SouRin week, even if the quality suffers for it. I am turning off my inner editor and just trying to put some words on the page. The prompts today definitely gave me some trouble though.


End file.
